WHERE: The XBIZ Show at the Andaz Hotel - 8401 Sunset Blvd in West Hollywood.

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Social Media: Maximizing Reach & EngagementFrom Facebook to Twitter, Instagram to Periscope and beyond, social media marketing today provides a bridge between brands and fans for an unbeatable connection — but it takes skill to build momentum on these platforms, which are notoriously unfriendly to adult. Join expert social media strategists for this executive workshop and learn the latest trends and best practices in social media marketing.

Location: Studio 2 (2nd Floor)

Porn PR: Putting Your Best Foot ForwardPorn consumption may typically be a private affair, but porn promotion needs to be in the public eye — where beneficial on-target messaging, problem area mitigation, and traffic generation come together. From do-it-yourself social media, to the services of professional publicity outfits, learn from our panel of experts how to project the best possible image for your brand, to the widest possible audience.

Here is the number one tip for adult stars wanting to establish a strong presence on Facebook - it’s a waste of time. Sure, set up a page so you have some type existence on there. But at the end of the day, investing any time and effort to cultivate a following on it will eventually be a waste of time.

Why? The Facebook Team is notorious for using a separate standard for adult stars than the general populace. I am quite aware of the written Facebook rules violations and adhere to them. Meaning we never post anything more than what you would see on the Victoria’s Secret or Sports Illustrated official pages. But even then, you could are cited for violations. The Page that you have worked so hard on to propagate Likes, could easily be deleted, for no justifiable reason. It has happened before, it happens everyday.

Posts of fully clothed women are cited for “Terms of Use” violations. Like this one:

Apparently, according to the Facebook Team, this image is not acceptable:

You uploaded a photo that violates our Terms of Use, and this photo has been removed. Facebook does not allow photos that attack an individual or group, or that contain nudity, drug use, violence, or other violations of the Terms of Use. These policies are designed to ensure Facebook remains a safe, secure and trusted environment for all users, including the many children who use the site.

I have no issue of beautiful women only slightly covering their nipples as they are holding their bare breasts, but the double standard is obvious.

So, you can be as cautious as you like, but as long as Facebook and its “Team” continue to use a separate set of rules due to the occupation that you have chosen, then it’s waste of your time. There are other social media outlets out there.

The good people at Ynot.com requested an interview from me about adult star publicity. Now, I rarely do interviews. In the ten years that I have been doing adult star publicity, I may have only done five. The last interview I did was for CNN about two years ago when I was still at Digital Playground. Mainly, because if there is an interview opportunity, I would prefer I get a client into the spot.

But I like Ynot so I thought I would answer the questions that they sent over. When the collection of interviews was posted some of my answers were not used. Which is all good, and up to their editors. However, being one not to let my work slip by I thought I would post all my answers here, in their entirety as supplemental info to the Ynot piece.

Short answer: because people are not going to know how great you are unless they have someone telling them. Long answer: it takes a team to cultivate and sustain a successful career. There are a lot of beautiful and talented people out there, so what makes one stand out from another? Creating awareness.

2) What do they pay you for your services?

Money.

3) But surely porn stars have succeeded without needing PR agents?

Anything is possible. There are girls now, who never had a publicist who are very recognizable names. Yes, they might be able to succeed without a PR agent, but they do probably had a solid support team - agent, manger, etc. Though, it makes you wonder how much further could they have gone with someone has a the contacts, the established connections to the media make more things happen for them.

For example, anyone can write a “press release” and send it over to AVN and Xbiz. But we have more contacts than that. Not only, look at the quality of a Star Factory PR press release. Look how much “meat on the bone” there is. We have an established technique that has succeeded for nearly a decade. We know what grabs people’s attention and draws them in. We know what angles to use, what media outlets are looking for. That is what we bring to the table.

Can someone succeed on their own? Sure. But that is an rarity. Why not stack the odds in your favor by hiring someone who is experienced in the ﬁeld of promotion?

4) What tangible extra income and opportunities do you provide to your clients?

That is a tough one to answer, because we are not agents. An agent’s job is to get people booked and put money in a client’s pocket. A publicist’s job is to promote the projects said client is working on. However, because of who we are and our established longevity, there are opportunities that present themselves, paying opportunities. Such as appearances or a “paid promotion” type avenues.

5) What opportunities might they miss without your help?

Star Factory PR has connections that go back 10 years. Our job, daily, is to strengthen the contacts we have and establish new ones. Client/Talent just cannot do that on the scale that we do. Can not dedicate the time or resources to seek out these opportunities. They are busy performing, staying in shape, formulating new projects.

6) Please name a porn star whose career has beneﬁted from your assistance, and what you have done for them?

I’ll give you the perfect example - Tanya Tate. In just the relatively short amount of time that she is been in the industry, ﬁve years, she’s been on the cover AVN, been on the cover of FHM Magazine in Turkey. Been in a theatrical documentary, The Aroused Project, photographed by acclaimed photographer Deborah Anderson. Seen on a nationally broadcast UK reality program. Taken part of panels at Comic Con, appeared at several conventions and won a slew of awards.

This is a perfect example of a symbiotic relationship between talent and a publicist. We are both on the same page as to how she wants to be promoted and has an open mind to the projects I propose. Because she trusts me to do the job that I do and she has the drive, determination and the wherewithal to aggressively pursue those avenues of publicity.

That quality is very hard to ﬁnd. A lot of people will pay a publicist money and sit back and expect magic to happen. It doesn’t work like that. There has to be that symbiotic relationship. A publicist is going to keep you busy, because that is what it takes to make a successful career.

7) How do you cut through the clutter of all the porn stars out there?

What Star Factory PR does is we meet with potential clients and look for that unique special trait that they have and we broadcast it. We try to go beyond the superﬁcial stature of performer, because there are hundreds of performers out there, and ﬁnd what makes our someone stand out.

8) What are the signs of a bad porn PR agent?

I think if someone tries to hard sell you, that’s a warning sign. If it’s too good to be true it probably is. If they are busy burying other PR companies in the initial meeting, that is a bad sign. I tell people to shop around, see who works better for you. A bad PR person doesn’t want you to shop around.

9) How do you shop for a good porn PR agent; what are the things to look for?

Do your homework. Look at a PR company’s track record. See what their strengths are and see what their weaknesses are. Don’t go by how much they cost because if you paying less for bad PR, you may as well spend nothing.

What is their turn over rate? Why are people leaving/staying? Look for more than just a weekly press release. Who are they pitching their clients to. I saw one “publicist” pitching their client to someone on Twitter who doesn’t even have a website yet. How is that a quality contact? I’m not going to waste my client’s time, have them do an interview somewhere, that is not going to have any traction.

You should be your own unique individual and a publicist should strive to feature that.